A COMPANY has been fined $80,000 after an employee died in an after-work incident at its Bangholme depot.
HSG Asphalt Pty Ltd was sentenced in the County Court last week. The incident occurred on 7 September 2022 – 34-year-old George Tereva was killed when he was run over by a bobcat driven by colleague Christopher Bell.
HSG Asphalt Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to maintain a safe system of work and one charge of failing to ensure people other than employees weren’t exposed to health and safety risks. It was fined $80,000.
WorkSafe chief health and safety officer Sam Jenkin said “this horrific scenario demonstrated the importance of securing workplaces and heavy machinery.” “Skid steers and other mobile plant are not toys and can be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands, including anyone under the influence of drugs or alcohol as well as those who don’t have appropriate training,” Jenkin said. “Employers need to do everything reasonable to secure equipment and ensure it is only used for authorised work by appropriately trained workers.”
A Worksafe statement read “in September 2022, four workers from HSG Asphalt and another related company were drinking alcohol at the company’s Bangholme depot at the end of the work day. One of the workers began driving a skid steer that had been left with the keys in the ignition – including driving erratically and towards other workers.
“The court heard he unsuccessfully tried to knock one worker off his chair using the bucket of the loader before driving at the worker “full throttle”, running him over up to three times and pinning him underneath the machine. The injured worker suffered significant crush injuries and died in hospital that evening.” Christopher Bell pleaded guilty to manslaughter last year, and was sentenced to seven years in jail.
The WorkSafe investigation into the incident found that the Langwarrin South company usually left keys in the ignition of the skid steer and other mobile plant at the depot so they could be accessed at any time. “The court found it was reasonably practicable for HSG Asphalt to reduce the risk to health and safety by providing a system of work where keys weren’t stored in plant when not in use and either stored in a lockbox with restricted access or only provided to authorised operators,” the WorkSafe statement read.
First published in the Frankston Times – 26 August 2025